So If Opposites Attract
by Emilee Crumby
Summary: Two sick boys. Good thing there are enough Gilmores to go around. Same story, different universe. Sick! Luke, Sick! Jess
1. Chapter 1

Very drabble-y and pointless. Mostly for practicing dialogue.

Season 2, shortly before the car accident.

"Where's Luke?"

Caesar looked over a stack of plates at Lorelai's curious blue eyes. Struggling to balance, he shifted his weight and answered, "He's doing dishes."

"Doesn't he have a guy for that?" asked Rory, glancing up from a textbook.

"Guillermo," Caesar said as he caught a teetering bowl. "Guillermo's on grill today."

"Well aren't you usually on grill?" Rory asked.

"Today I'm on tables."

"What's with the musical chairs?" Lorelai wondered as a mug finally came toppling down to crash below their table.

Caesar sighed and, without putting down the stack, leaned and tried to snatch the largest broken piece. In slow motion the carefully balanced stack of plates collapsed around him. It feel so slowly, it seemed, that every other patron in the diner, including Miss Patty who was busy mooning over the new Doose's grocery boy, could easily have seen its inevitability.

Caesar appeared only mildly irked as he snatched the broom from behind the counter and began sweeping up the pieces.

"So what, Luke just got this burning desire to be Pete Jordan?" Lorelai leaned over to look at Caesar knelt under her chair and plucked silverware from the shards of glass. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see you out of the kitchen, a man of the people and all, you just don't seem to be relishing it."

Caesar breathed heavily as he stretched out across the floor.

"I'm not," he groaned. "Believe me, I like my kitchen. I like my privacy. Back there no one bothers me. Luke even lets me listen to my Strapping Young Lad album so long as you can't hear it up here."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows at her daughter but chose to let the moment pass unmocked while she tried to extract information from the portly, wheezing man.

"But today…" she trailed off when Caesar sat back on his heels. He looked back and forth for a moment before leaning confidentially towards the girls.

"Okay, I didn't tell you this but Luke's sick and he doesn't want to be out here infecting customers."

"Is he okay?" Rory asked with concern lilting in her voice.

"He's fine," Caesar waved his hand. "It's just a cold or something. He just don't want people to know."

"Well his secret is safe with us," Rory replied primly. "Right Mom?"

But Lorelai's eyes were alight like a child who had just found the Christmas presents. "Luke's got a cold?" she grinned. "Mr. Tofu-and-Sprouts? Mr. That-Red-Meat'll-Kill-You? Mr. No-Coffee-For-Me-Thanks-I'll-Just-Have a-Green-Tea has a cold?"

"Mom," Rory warned.

"Huh? Oh," she looked back at Caesar. "Don't worry, I won't tell him you ratted him out."

The cook continued to look concerned and Lorelai smiled and, with a hint of malice, held out her coffee cup. "Refill?" she asked sweetly.

Stumbling over what he could not carry, Caesar rushed to top off Lorelai's drink. The door chimed behind their table and Rory turned just in time to see Jess push out of the diner. Where had he even come from?

"Mom, I gotta go," she said, snatching her backpack and darting towards the exit. Almost there, she stopped and turned back one on foot. "Promise me you won't harass Luke."

"Me?" Lorelai perked up and made her eyes wide and innocent. "You think I'm going to harass a poor, sick man?"

"Yes," Rory said shortly. "I do." She hesitated, seeing Jess's figure disappearing behind the street corner.

"Just don't be cruel," she finished hastily, before pushing open the door.

"Cruel," Lorelai repeated, incredulous. "Me? Who does she think she is, calling _me_ cruel?" Maintaining the look of astonishment Lorelai was quickly humbled to realize she was, in fact, speaking to no one.

With a internal sigh she quickly lifted out of her seat and skirted through the back of the shop, past a frazzled Caesar frantically taking down Taylor's intricate lunch order.

Just as Taylor was carefully articulating, "I'd like six tomato slices but they must each be at least 4 inches in diameter; none of those end pieces…" Lorelai was slipping out of sight.

In all of her times nosing around at Luke's, Lorelai was surprised to realize this was her first time in the kitchen. Even when Uncle Louie died and she had been here full time, Luke had made sure to have her barred from the kitchen. 'Knowing you, you'll probably burn the place down,' he had told her.

Now she could start to understand his concern. This was nothing like Sookie's kitchen. That was the epitome of organization and cleanliness, the complete opposite of the absent-minded chef in every way. Apparently Luke, who liked things simple and neat, kept his kitchen in a constant state of chaos.

She closed the door gently behind her, muting the sound of Taylor railing on Caesar, and coyly snuck forth.

"Hey Jess, wait up!" Rory called and she clung to the straps of her backpack and broke into a run.

Jess didn't break stride or turn but he smiled when a winded Rory appeared beside him. "What's up Flash?"

She gasped for air before looking scornful. "I'm faster without this book bag."

"I'm just impressed you ran that far without falling," he grinned and swept a finger under his nose.

"Where are you going anyway?"

"School."

"School?" Rory was skeptical.

"Yeah school. You know, textbooks, homework, under qualified teachers paid to babysit idiotic cheerleaders and football players between the hours of 7 and 2."

Rory squinted, "It does _sound_ familiar."

"Relax, let it come to you."

"I've never seen you leave for school in such a hurry before."

"Yeah well, Luke's decided that every tardy I get this semester is another weekend of scraping plates at the diner."

"Sound motivation," Rory said, nodding.

"Absolutely," Jess began another quip but was cut short as he whipped away and sneezed, forcefully, into cupped palms.

"Bless you."

"Thanks," replied Jess, not making eye contact.

Rory eyed him for a moment. "Are you sick too?"

"Nope," Jess continued to look away.

"Really?" Rory drew out the word as hints of her mother began to crop up in her voice. "'Cause you don't look so great."

"Thanks again."

"Your eyes are all watery. And red."

"Had to get through the school day somehow."

"And your voice; it's deeper."

"Oh those magic changes," Jess quoted.

"Well, what about," Rory began just as Jess pulled away to sneeze again, "that?"

"Must be something in the air."

Rory studied him a moment longer while Jess fixed his jaw and began to stride even faster. She chose to tread carefully while she planned her next move.

"I hear there's a bookfair today," Jess said. "Will I see you there after school?"

Rory's eyes lit up as she answered. "Of course. Andrew said they've even got some hand-drawn Carroll books he'll set aside for me. But wait, you don't have to work?"

"Not today," Jess' voice was sullen again and he coughed discreetly.

"But you always work after school."

"The exception that proves the rule…" he mumbled.

"Why?" Rory's question was pointed and she touched his arm when she spoke.

Jess shrugged but a smile pulled at his mouth. "Luke gave me the day off."

"Doesn't want you handling food when you're all germy?" Rory asked slyly.

"You know what?" Jess stopped walking and faced her, a smile fully bloomed now. "You're right. I am sick. I shouldn't go to school today. In my condition, it really wouldn't be wise."

Now it was Rory who turned away, trying to appear disengaged. "You've got a cold, Jess. You can go to school with a cold."

"But how do you know?" Jess feigned alarm. "It doesn't feel like just a cold. In fact, I think my airways are closing up. Feel my forehead, I've definitely got a fever. 105, 106 at least."

"Jess-"

"I should stay home. Write out my will and all."

They had finally reached the bus stop where Rory draped a hand over the sign as the old, public bus rumbled down the road.

"Jess, go to school."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"Bye Jess," she said as she stepped up.

"Later Rory," he said with a smirk as he watched her ascend. He doubled back on the route to Stars Hollow High, sneezing again and plucking from his pocket a large stock of tissues he'd packed earlier that morning.


	2. Chapter 2

As Lorelai made her way to the back of the cluttered kitchen, she could hear Luke before she could see him. He was trapped in a intense sneezing fit, following each powerful sneeze with a slew of swear words. When she finally caught sight of him, her heart melted for a moment. He stood at one of the large industrial sinks, hands submerged to his elbows. There was water splashed all across his shirt and when she saw his sneezes she could see why. She watched as he doubled forward, shielding the pan of clean trays with his shoulder and sneezed wetly, splashing himself with dishwater as he lifted his arm.

"Dammit," he muttered again as he used his driest part of his sleeve to wipe the corner of his eye. He sniffed thickly, and searched the air to see if the fit was over. Seeming content, he lifted another pan and began to scrub when a final sneeze overtook him, causing him to drop the pan heavily into the sink and send a tidal wave across the kitchen floor.

"Dammit!" he yelled this time, pulling his sudsy arms from the water and shaking droplets free.

"Is the shower in your apartment broken?" Lorelai asked, causing him to jump at the sight of her. "You could use mine, you know. Although I can see how bathing in your kitchen sink while washing dishes gives you that whole two-birds, one-stone fix."

"What are you doing here?" he growled. "Who let you back here?"

His voice, she heard now, was hoarse and low and made her want to cluck with pity. She maintained her visage though and smirked. "I snuck back here while Caesar was sweeping up broken glass."

"Broken glass?" Luke looked towards the door, eyes alight with concern. "Jeez, I knew I shouldn't have left him alone."

"It's fine," Lorelai said with a wave. "He's keeping us all pretty entertained. We've got a pool going to see how many plates he drops. I already lost my fries to it."

"I should go up there," Luke said, barely hearing for distraction. He took a step towards Lorelai when he sneezed again, this time just managing to grab a rag from his belt to stifle into.

"Bless you," Lorelai said patiently. "Luke you really don't need to. The breakfast rush is almost over. Anyway, I think people would rather have their breakfast dropped then sneezed onto."

Luke scowled.

"Besides," Lorelai joked, " you probably want to blow dry first."

She pointed to Luke's shirt which bore a large water spot from the collar to the waist.

"Aw jeez," Luke swore again. "Hey toss me that towel, will ya?"

Lorelai turned to see a stack of flannel dish towels stacked high on a shelf behind her. She snatched one and handed it over before grabbing a second. While Luke toweled off his front, Lorelai walked behind and began to dab at the droplets of water that had started to trickled down the back of his shirt.

At her first touch Luke flinched. "What are you doing?"

"Calm down Tweak. I'm just getting your neck. How did you even get water back here?"

"Hell if I know," Luke calmed slightly but Lorelai still felt his muscles bristling beneath her hand. She rewrapped the towel and, as she laid it across his shoulder her fingers grazed his skin. She gasped.

"Luke, you're burning up," she admonished, laying her palm across the side of his face.

Now he pulled away completely, turning to face her.

"I'm okay," he assured her, removing his baseball cap to dry his brow. "That water was scalding." He brought the, now damp, towel to his mouth and coughed into it.

"You've got a fever," Lorelai accused.

"No, I was just standing above a sink full of steaming water," Luke said stubbornly. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine. You're sick," Lorelai pulled the Mom-face from her reserve and with one hand on her hip, pointed to the room's exit. "You need to get your butt upstairs and get into bed."

"Lorelai," Luke began to protest but his argument lost wind as he doubled over in a quick fit of three sneezes.

"Bed," she said again.

"But these dishes," his tone was starting to trail off, as though he knew he already lost.

"Let Guillermo do the dishes, put Caesar back on grill, I'll wait tables."

"I can't let you do that."

"Why not? It's not like I haven't done it before. Besides, I don't want my diner talk to get rusty." She put a hand on his forearm and began to steer him from the room.

"Now I want you to go upstairs, put on dry clothes, _no flannel_, and get into bed. When things start to slow up down here I'll bring you a cockadoodledoo bath with straws."

"Chicken noodle soup?" Luke guessed and Lorelai beamed.

"Now go." She pushed him all the way through the kitchen and past a busy dining room, only having to redirect him once when stopped walking and tried to take an order.

At the bottom of the stairs to his apartment Luke turned back with a look of resigned gratitude.

"Thanks Lorelai," he croaked as she waved him away.

She turned triumphantly back to the slew of waiting customers with a look of satisfaction. "Welcome back Beth Schrieber," she said to herself before rushing off to answer cries for coffee.

Rory was eyeball deep in D.H. Lawrence novels when the sound of Taylor's voice began to echo across the bookfair.

"Young man, if you insist on coming out when you're ill, effectively risking the health of the whole town, the very least you can do is cover your mouth when you sneeze. In my day all gentlemen carried handkerchiefs at all times. Now I don't care if that doesn't seem _hip_ to you, when the health of this town is concerned your need to appear cool comes second to all else."

He barely drew breath to continue his rant when Rory broke in between him and a increasingly irate Jess. The latter had yet to speak but the eye-rolling and jaw clenching indicated to Rory that a tirade would quickly follow.

"Hello Taylor," she interjected sweetly causing the bigger man to hesitate.

"Oh, hello Rory," he said hastily before raising a finger to continue his lecture.

"Taylor, I didn't know it was free sample day at the store. I must say, I think that's a really great idea to get customers interested in your produce."

He turned quickly towards her. "Sample Day? What on earth are you talking about?"

Rory's eyebrows raised as she tried to look innocent. "I just saw the new bagboy slicing up pieces of melon for Miss Patty to try. "

Taylor gasped. "Those melons just arrived yesterday. Peter knows he's only allowed to give samples of the older produce. Well if he thinks I won't take that out of his paycheck…"

Without saying goodbye he spun around and began to half-walk, half-run back to the market.

Ready to receive thanks Rory turned back to Jess only to see his eyes welling up while another sneeze tortured him. Thinking quickly she reached into her book bag and snatched a napkin from Luke's, passing it off to Jess just in time for him to capture his sneeze.

"Thanks," he said with a hint of a groan. "And thank you," this while indicating Doose's Market. "I probably would have let that one loose in his face if he'd still have been there."

"Well then you'd never have gotten rid of him," Rory said, replacing her bag on shoulders.

"But it would have been so worth it," he said, blowing his nose lightly into the napkin.

Rory furrowed an eyebrow. "So how's the non-cold?"

"Never felt better."

"Glad to hear it," she said, playing along.

Jess looked her up and down for a moment. "Want to get out of here?" he asked.

"What do you mean? I thought you wanted to look at books."

He shrugged. "I've been here for an hour, the selection's not that great. Come on, we can go to the park."

Rory looked up at a gray sky with thick clouds rolling in from the east. "It looks like rain," she said.

Jess followed her gaze. "Only over there," he said, pointing. He grasped her shoulders and reoriented them towards the west. "There it looks fine."

"Flawless logic."

"I thought so."

They started to walk while Rory pulled out _Lady Chatterley's Lover_. "Have you read it?"

Jess scanned the cover. "Snippets," he answered. "Quite risqué Gilmore."

Rory's voice was animated as she related the history of the novel. "It was actually his third re-write of the same story. He thought it would be the least offensive to release."

Jess looked up from flipping through the first pages as a clap of thunder rolled overhead. Rory sighed.

"We should go back," she said. "We're going to get caught in the rain."

Jess' eyes twinkled. "So we get wet."

"It won't be good for your cold."

"What cold?" he said, putting a hand on the small of her back and leading her down the path towards the bridge.


	3. Chapter 3

"Lucas Poindexter Danes," Lorelai's voice reverberated in the tiny apartment.

Luke, leafing through paperwork at his kitchen table, jumped and gasped, pressing a hand to his chest. "Lorelai you scared the hel- 'Poindexter?' Where did you get Poindexter?"

"Took a shot in the dark. So I'm wrong?"

Luke shook his head. "Way wrong."

"Oh well." Lorelai shrugged. "Hey, you were supposed to be in bed. And you were supposed to change."

She put down the tray of food she had been balancing and plucked at the front pocket of Luke's shirt. It was still wet and now cold. A visible shiver ran down his back as Lorelai vented cool air between the folds of flannel.

"Oh right," he said, distracted. "Well I was going to, but then I remember I haven't finished the ordering for the month so I started to go through that. Then I noticed that my regular meat vendor increased the price of hamburger patties by thirty cents without even telling me. So I started going through some other inventories to see if anyone else-"

He was cut off by Lorelai pressing a finger to his lips. Her hand drifted up to his forehead and she winced. "You feel warmer than before. Where's your thermometer?"

Reluctantly but quickly he pulled away from her touch. "Still at the store I'd imagine, being that I've never bought one."

"You don't have a thermometer?" Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised? I guess you don't have cold meds or ibuprofen either."

"I don't like drugs."

"Of course you don't." She reoriented and tray and began to button her sweater. "Well I'm going to run over the Doose's and get some medicine." She waited while he pulled the collar of his shirt up over his nose and sneezed stiffly. "And tissues," she continued. "When I get back I want you in pajamas."

Luke nodded, rubbing at the bridge of his nose and reaching to pluck another inventory sheet from his pile. "Hey," he cried as Lorelai snatched it from his hand.

"I think I'll take these with me," she said gathering all the pages into a folder. "Luke, pajamas, bed, soup," she indicated the tray before him which he eyed cautiously.

"Did you make it?" he asked carefully.

"Don't worry, I had Caesar do it."

He grimaced and took a spoonful as Lorelai scurried across the street.

She reappeared nearly half an hour later, carrying a large shopping bag on each arm with a third, plastic one dangling from her wrist. As she unloaded the bag she wrung out her dripping hair over the sink and pulled off a rain-soaked outer coat.

"What's all this?" Luke asked, buttoning a fresh shirt as he came out of the bedroom.

Lorelai turned with a smile before her face dropped. "I thought I said pajamas."

Luke rolled up the wrists of his long sleeved shirt. "These are my pajamas."

"They're flannel. You wear flannel pajamas? Are you kidding me? Making a mental note to mock you when you're feeling better."

"Yeah yeah," Luke muttered, clearing his throat. "So what, did you buy out Doose's? Was Taylor mad?"

"Oh," Lorelai's face lit up. "Here, my friend, is the ultimate sick day care package."

"This is completely unnecessary," he said with an eye roll.

"Nothing has ever been more necessary."

"Mad Magazine?" he said, pulling it from one of the Doose's bags.

"Essential reading material when you can't focus on a book. And here," she reached into the second bag and began laying groceries across the table.

"Canned soup, tissues, tea, Sudafed, throat drops, eye drops, lemon drops."

"Lemon drops?"

"Jelly beans, miniature Snickers bars, Twizzlers, marshmallows, cheetos, orange juice."

"Something healthy at least," he said through a cough.

"And I ran home and got you my favorite electric blanket," she continued, reaching past the magazines in the first bag again. "I'm telling you, when I've got really bad cramps I'd choose this to curl up with over Taye Diggs in a heartbeat."

Luke wrinkled his nose. "Too much information."

"Oh, right. Sorry. Anyway, on my way back from the house I stopped at the video store and got Weekend At Bernie's, Dawn of the Dead, and drumroll please, Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1. I had to fight a off a 45 year-old virgin at the store for that one but for you, my friend, anything."

"Lorelai you really didn't have to do all this."

"What are you talking about? Of course I did. You're always fixing my house, and serving me coffee, and bringing ice to my shindigs; you deserve the best."

For a moment Luke couldn't look away from her. She held his gaze before breaking up the silence.

"Besides, I need you back on the job. Your pancakes are like a million times better than Caesar's. I could only choke down two short stacks this morning."

"Heaven help you."

"At this rate, I'll starve in a matter of days."

She waited patiently while he turned and sneezed twice. When he was done she handed the box of tissues she had bought.

"They've got moisturizer in them. And the box has kittens on it."

"Thanks," he said, snatching two and blowing his nose. As he did he looked up at her from above the billowy folds. He wiped his nose. "Hey you're all wet."

Lorelai shrugged. "It's a new look I'm trying. Natalie Pond's got nothing on me."

"What?"

"It's pouring rain."

"Oh hey," Luke pulled a flowery curtain aside. "When did that start?"

"About twenty minutes ago. It's definitely slowed down the lunch rush. The only one down there now is Kirk. And that new server you hired."

"Indigo."

"Right, Indigo. Anyway the two of them were battling over Splenda. She seems to be taking to this job well."

"So you're saying I don't need to feel bad about not being down there?"

She grinned. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Well thanks. And hey you probably should dry off. I don't want you getting sick too."

"Oh yeah," Lorelai looked down at her sopping blouse. "Can I borrow a shirt?"

Luke look surprised. "Why don't you just go to your house? I'm sure you have dry clothes there. Ones that actually fit you."

"Um hello," Lorelai gestured to the window. "It's pouring out there. Besides, I thought I could hang out here a bit. In case you need anything." An unusual shyness had crept into her voice.

"Oh," Luke looked sheepish. "Sure, if you want. I mean, if you don't mind. I mean, that'd be great. Um… top drawer, there should be plenty of clean shirts."

"Cool," Lorelai nodded. "So I'll just grab one of those then."

As she skirted from the room to change Luke looked down at his care package and then back to the place where she had stood, holding still for a long time.

A short walk from the old bridge was a small pavilion, wooden and decrepit. It was too small for a gathering of any substance and had, subsequently, fallen into disrepair. At this time, though, when the sky had opened, dumping buckets of freezing water onto Stars Hollow, it provided the perfect shelter for Rory and Jess.

He sat on the top step of the stage and watched Rory chatting on the phone. Her wet hair fell in coiled ringlets around her cheeks and her eyes glowed while she talked to her boyfriend. Of course, the one time when she would have Lorelai's cell phone on her would be the same time that she and Jess were conveniently rained into close proximity, with nothing but each other to pass the time. He sniffled and shivered, feeling the icy cold water across every inch of his body then scowled lowering his chin onto his knees.

"Well, when are you getting home from your grandmother's?" Rory asked, fidgeting with her Chilton jacket as she listened to Dean talk. The sound of his voice soothed her but, as she looked over at Jess, hunched and miserable across the pavilion, she felt a pang of guilt for choosing to return the page now.

"Hey Dean, I gotta get going. My mom'll freak if I use all her daytime minutes. Yeah. Yeah, I love you too."

Rory tucked the phone into her skirt pocket and went to sit next to Jess. She wrapped her arms around her knees and watched the falling rain while Jess sulked beside her.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Just peachy," came the sardonic reply.

She frowned. "You don't have to be like that. Why can't you just give an honest answer occasionally?"

"I'm fine."

She sighed and surveyed him. Then, without asking, she began to pull his jacket from his shoulders.

"What are you doing?" he growled.

"Your coat is drenched. I'm going to lay it out to dry. It can't feel good all cold and wet like that."

He grumbled but didn't argue as he pulled his coat off and allowed her to take it. She spread it out across the center of the pavilion before returning to his side.

"You're soaked to the bone," she said, seeing the hairs on his arm raise above a littering of goosebumps.

"I guess that means I can skip the whole showering thing tonight."

She ignored the remark, instead pulling her backpack into her lap and starting to rifle through it.

"Here," she said, holding out a wrinkled Chilton sweater. "I keep an extra one just in case this one frays or something."

"Well aren't you a boy scout," he quipped, not moving.

"Take it," she held the sweater out more persistently.

Jess snarled derisively. "I am _not_ wearing that."

"Come on, it's warm and dry, and it's not like anyone can see you in here."

"_I _can see me," he protested with another shiver. His voice quivered and he quickly lowered his head into his arms, sneezing four times and wrenching his shoulders painfully with each one.

"Bless you. Here," she rummaged again and withdrew another pile of napkins.

"I've got my own, thanks," he said, producing a rapidly diminishing pack of Kleenex.

"You aren't too badly prepared yourself, mister. I mean, for someone who doesn't even have a cold."

She continued to cling to the napkins for a moment, staring at Jess' head.

"What?"

"Your hair is all wet," she told him.

"Good observation," he said, brushing a hand across it and sending beads of water flying.

Rory reflected for a moment before folding together a collection of napkins and slowly starting to dry his head. He did not protest and she did not comment on the heat radiating from his face. A silent understanding had been struck between them.

"There," she said when completed. "How is that?"

"Better," he admitted honestly. Subconsciously his gaze had drifted over to the woolen sweater laying across Rory's lap. She smiled and picked it up. She draped it over his shoulders letting her hands linger for a moment across his biceps.

"I won't tell," she promised. "Not that you need to be embarrassed. Dean wore one of my sweaters once."

"You and Sasquatch wear the same size do you?"

"Well it was actually my Dad's. When I was little I used to wear it when he visited. One day he just left it for me."

"That's nice," Jess said with a touch of wistfulness .

"Yeah, so it was technically a man's sweater. Dean still didn't want to wear it though. But I spilled ketchup on…"

"Can we not talk about Dean?" Jess interjected.

"Oh," Rory stopped short. "Sure."

For a long while they sat and watched the rain. Neither spoke except for the occasional blessing on Rory's side when Jess needed to sneeze. At one point she realized she was about to rest her head on his shoulder and jerked herself upright.

"Are you okay?" Jess asked.

"Fine," she said, still seated but clearly uneasy. "We should head back into town."

Jess groaned. "Stuck in the apartment all afternoon with a sick Luke. Sounds like a good time."

"At least you have your own room now."

"Thank God for small favors," Jess replied with a cough.

Rory studied him for a moment as her interest peaked. "You don't really hate it do you? Living with Luke."

"Well who wouldn't want to live with a stubborn hermit who wears the same shirt and cap every day?"

"At least he cares."

"Yeah right," Jess said with a half-laugh.

Rory turned and furrowed her brow. "Don't be like that, Jess. Of course he cares. Man, for someone so smart you can be really dense about some things."

"Maybe." Jess shrugged uncomfortably. " I just irritate him I guess. We have absolutely nothing in common."

At this Rory laughed out loud. When Jess turned a questioning face on her, she said nothing and he settled for that.


End file.
